Fancy Pants Designs Projects

October 31, 2013

Hi Fancy Pants Designs fans! Hope you enjoyed your October. I wanted to share one more Halloween project with you before we move on to November. I created this frame to add to my Halloween display this year.

I grabbed the Swagger collection for this project, and went with some neutrals along with the gorgeous orange. I cut out start using my silhouette, stitched some of them, and spread them out over the frame. When it came time to the title, I used some of the letter stickers and one of the new wood phrases, which I misted with orange mist before wrapping some of it with twine.

October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween! Today—and this whole month—is always a fun at our house ... we love dressing up and being something unique and different for a day, carving or coloring pumpkins, decorating and having parties! Which leads me to my blog post for today! Each year, now an official tradition, my kids get to have a Halloween {sleepover} Party at their Grandma and Grandpa's ... and it is something they look forward to ALL month! This year, even our littlest guy was able to sleep over and he was so happy about that!

Anyway, the party starts with a very fun meal that Grandma and Grandpa have fixed up ... full of body insides, severed fingers and such ... you know—all the good stuff! And, along with that meal comes the potion taste tests! All of the kids *must try each potion (*kind of—sometimes they chicken out)! The bottles have clever names like Vampire Blood, Booger Juice ... you get the idea :)! So, for this Halloween, we made up a gift to give Grandma (and Grandpa) to have for future Halloween Parties ... a Potions Sign ... since this seems to be the most talked about event of the party :)!

For this sign, I used a precut piece of wood. I traced the shape and added the cute paper from our Oct. 31 collection! From there it was just about adding the embellishments and such to the sign! Last with a bit of tulle and some cute Oct. 31 ribbon, we draped the sign over a cute 'potions' bottle picked up at a local antique store and our Potions gift was complete! This was a fun little project that will mean something for years to come ... I hope it gives you an idea of something to create for your own family traditions!

Here are some close-ups :)! I used the papers, chipboard, buttons and ribbon from our Oct. 31 collection! I also used The Good Life big chipboard letters and mini letters from our 12x12 Sticker Fundamentals sheet!

And last, here is a picture just before the party got started this weekend (Grandma, cousin Logan, Dawson, Monster Grandpa, Abbi, Holden and Marli) and the vampire blood drink to boot! HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!-Jodi Sanford

October 29, 2012

Happy
Halloween fellow scrappers! For your
Fancy This project, I've come up with a cute banner using the Oct. 31 line and
a little of our Trick or Treat line, just to show you that you can mix some
lines and your projects will come out looking great!

Instructions:Alright, ready to get started? For the candy corn shape, I sketched out the
shape on scrap paper until it looked right, and then folded it up the middle to
cut it out, so it was the same on both sides. If you want, you can make a large
triangle, and round the points. My candy corn is about 8 1/2 inches high by 6
1/2 inches wide at the bottom. I also sketched out the letters (EEK), but you
can use a die cutting machine if you like. Once my basic candy corn shape was the way I wanted, I cut out 5 of them
out of white cardstock (you can also use chipboard if you have it). I also traced my EEK onto the black All Good
paper, and cut them out. After inking
them, I placed them onto the green side of SPOOKS and fussy cut them out
again. It kind of makes them pop a
little bit more than leaving them just black.

Next, I cut my papers into 3 inch strips,
and inked the edges black. An inking
tip: I use make-up sponges; you get a
subtle look, and when you're done applying the ink, take your sponge and run it
along the edges to give it one more sharp black line!

When my papers were all inked, I laid them
out on my candy corn shapes to figure out the layout. If it helps you, draw some straight lines on
your candy corn shapes to help you get your strips straight; OR!!! I just thought of this, but it would also
look reaaalllllyyyy cute if they were all wonky!!! Next time...

Lay your middle strip first, making sure
to lay it far enough to the left or right so that you don't leave any white
space! (but don't waste paper! scoonch
it over as far as you can!) Continue on
until all your candy corns are covered in strips! Mark on the back the order you have them (1,
2, 3, 4, 5).

Next I, used my stitching wheel to mark
the zig zag pattern along the paper seams. Since the paper and the cardstock were so thick, I had to go back with
my poker tool and make the holes bigger. Once that is done, find a comfortable chair, grab your needle and thread
and your tiny buttons! Put on a
movie! Layout your buttons so no two
colors are next to each other, and then start stitching. It's really quite therapeutic!

Back now? Aren't they cute? The next thing
I did was cut some of the spider webs from the clear overlay (4 to be
exact). I wanted them to be peeking from
behind the letters, and one above the Black Cat Academy chipboard! Speaking of chipboard, I used some tiny
purple and orange pom-pom trim around the edges of two of the chipboard
pieces! Then, I reached for my Glitter
Cuts (every project needs glitter!!). I
put them where they looked the best. I
still had some areas that needed something, so I used a few rub-ons (the black
cat, the witches hat and the spider web).
Fancy Pants rub-ons are the best!

When everything was laid out where I
wanted, I started gluing it all down. I
used pop dots on the letters and the chipboard pieces. After looking at my candy corns again, I
thought, "Well, I have spider webs, but no spider..." So using a 1 1/2 circle punch and a bracket
punch, I made a spider! At first he
looked like a black octopus because I had the legs turned wrong, so make sure
you play with them until they look right!

Having only one googly eyed creature on my
candy corn garland just wouldn't do, so I decided to fussy cut some bat wings
and use one of my big buttons for his body! Again, add googly eyes, instant cuteness!

Last, but not least, I love the skulls on the
Trick or Treat paper, so I fussy cut one of those to put on one of the letter
E's! If you want to now is the time to
back your candy corn pieces with plain cardstock so seal in your threads and
make it more professional looking!

Almost done! Using the striped ribbon trim and three large
buttons, I made three bows (using the floss to tie them together). Next, punch holes in the top of the candy
corn pieces for the tulle.

Now, take the black tulle (sold in a roll
at craft stores), and leave enough on the left end for a tail, put the tulle
through your punched holes from FRONT TO BACK, bring it around and tie it so
the tulle goes the direction of the next candy corn piece. (it will
help it hang straight). It's best
to have this lying on the table flat, so you can make sure you leave enough
space between them! Keep going until all
your candy corns are hanging from the tulle! Tie the tulle at the ends to make a loop for hanging.

Now, tie your button bows onto the three
middle candy corns, and add a piece of black tulle behind them. Make two large bows out of the orange tulle
and attach at the ends by the hanging loops. I also added pieces of tulle above the first and last candy corn. I would've added more orange and even purple
had I had some on hand!!!

Well, all done! Hang your cute little banner up and
enjoy! I hope you've had fun with this
project! Oh, and one more tip: Scissor cutting (since there is a lot of it
in this project)... always look ahead of where you are cutting, and not
directly at the blade, it helps you to keep a straight line! ( kind of like when we're driving a car, you
look ahead of the road and not directly over the hood!). Also, for curves, TURN THE PAPER and not your
scissors. You'll get fewer jagged edges
and smoother curves. One last thing,
make long cuts with your scissors, and not a bunch of short jagged ones...
smoother edges!! Happy Scrapping!!! and ....

October 22, 2012

Halloween is almost upon us and I thought that I would alter a round container I received in the mail to use as a trick-or-treat bucket. You can easily find yourself an oatmeal container to do the same. And if it is not a big enough container for trick-or-treating, it can always serve as a decoration around the house or garden.

Instructions:1. Cut the magic paper into two strips. Cover the container's bottom half with the witches hat. Cover the container's top half with the vertical stripes.2. Select a border from the element stickers and add onto the container where the two pieces of papers meet.3. Cut out a few spider webs from the printed transparency.4. Run the transparencies and the glitter cut (Oct 31) through the Xyron sticker maker. Add them onto the container.5. Punch two holes into the container. 6. Select a piece of matching ribbon and thread through the holes and tie a knot to secure. (shown in the photo)7. Go trick-or-treat.

As you can tell from the instructions, this is a very simple and quick alteration project, made possible by these easy to use collection by Fancy Pants Designs. I hope you find yourself some Oct. 31 and give it a whirl! And don't forget some spider webs for that spooky effect!

October 15, 2012

Have you checked out the monthly FREE calendars available to download? They're super cute and I love that you can print them out in whatever size you like. In this digital world I still love my schedule on paper, which shouldn't come as a huge surprise coming from a scrapbooker! This project uses the adorable October calendar and the Oct. 31 digital collection (available at jessicasprague.com). Halloween is one of my absolute favorite holidays so I was a sucker for this line and went for the hybrid project just so I could use it.

Instructions:1. Print an 7.5 x 9.5 piece of Eerie-A paper, ink the edges with black ink, and adhere it to an 8 x 10 piece of black cardstock. Doodle a zig zag around the edge with black pen.

2. Print the October calendar 6 x 6 and a 6.5 x 6.5 piece of Spooks-B paper. Round the corners and ink the edges of each and place the calendar on the mat. Add the calendar approximately one inch from the top of the purple paper.

3. Print a 2.5" strip of Magic-B paper, border punch both long edges, and ink them. Adhere it to the area under the calendar. Print and cut two 1" strips of Night-B paper, pleat the strips, and ink the edges. Adhere the pleated strip to the center of the striped paper.

4. Print another 1" strip of Night-B and a 1.5" strip of Magic-B. Accordion fold each every 1/4", adhere in a circle, and flatten onto a scrap circle of paper to make them into accordion circles. Ink edges. Print a small square of Spell-A, punch a circle, ink it, and add it to the center of the striped circle. Tie knots in the centers of an orange button and a black button. Layer on top of the circles and additional buttons as shown. Tie a ric rac bow around the green button.

5. Print a 1" strip of Eerie-B, cut into a small flag, ink, and adhere as shown in the upper left corner. Place the two accordion circles slightly overlapping. Add a circle of black rhinestones.

6. Print and fussy cut the following elements/titles: JournalingBlock3, LovePotion, Boo, Cat, WitchesHat1, and HauntedHouse. Ink them all and layer them at the bottom right corner as shown, using foam tape to elevate areas as needed. Cut small slits in the hat and tuck the cat's ears in them. Add another black rhinestone circle to the cluster and one on each visible orange pleat.

7. Punch holes in the top and either hang with book rings and tie green lace to the rings or add the bows directly to the holes if you do not want to hang your calendar.

I really enjoy having a decorated calendar on my desk for each month. It is both functional AND decorative! You could hang yours like I have, keep it flat, pin it to a cork board, or stick it on your refrigerator. At the end of the month you could even add thumbnail photos of what you did in October and create a layout out of it!

September 17, 2012

With Autumn just around the corner, Halloween will be here before you know it! Fancy Pants Designs has got you covered! Oct.31 in digital format, released TODAY at jessicasprague.com!!! You can get the entire collection, or parts of the collection individually (brushes, alphas, title embellishments, element embellishments, and paper packs). Also, check out these Quick Pages...

These pages make your digital scrapbooking a snap! Just drop in your photos! You can find these Quick Pages here and here.

And TODAY only, jessicasprague.com is giving you 25% off any of these Oct. 31 digital products!

We hope you are loving Fancy Pants Designs digital product. There will be more ... and we can't wait to share it with you! So, keep visiting here and jessicasprague.com to see what we come up with next!

About Us

Fancy Pants Designs opened business in November, 2004 and has grown quickly over the years with the help of many creative people, detailed designers and dedicated fans! It was started by a scrapbooker, for scrapbookers that appreciate the value of preserving memories through creativity and art...and it remains that way today. Fancy Pants Designs specializes in creating unique and innovative products for scrapbookers, paper crafters and creative people worldwide! Every member of our team loves what they do and it shows in every product we release!